Jefferson Starship at the Tupelo Music Hall – Derry, NH

Photos and Review by Colleen Goyer
Show photos HERE
Jefferson Starship returned to Tupelo Music Hall on September 13th for the first time since the venue moved to the current location. Playing to a sold out crowd, they hit upon the top hits from over the decades.
Being a fan of the older Jefferson Airplane songs, I was curious as to how they would sound with the current members. Grace Slick’s voice was such a significant part of those earlier hits, but I was really happy to find that Cathy Richardson, who has been with the group for over 10 years now, did a great job with the classics including White Rabbit and Someone to Love. She also contributed some rhythm guitar throughout the evening.
Long-term members included guitarist David Freiberg, who joined the band in the 70’s and rejoined in the 2000’s, drummer Donny Baldwin, and keyboardist Chris Smith. Freiberg still hit the high notes even though he turned 80 this year. Jude Gold who joined the band in 2012 as the lead guitarist handled pretty much all the guitar solos. At one point the rest of the band left the stage leaving Jude to perform his own version of Embryonic Journey off the Surrealistic Pillow album.
Of course they performed music from the later periods as well. These included Miracles, Jane, and even one newer song written with former band member Paul Kantner in mind that kept Baldwin busy with an African/tribal drumbeat.
As a departure from the Jefferson Starship catalog, Freiberg sang a hit from one of his former bands, Quicksilver Messenger Service.
Even with the member changes and variations in the sound over the years, the band performed the songs from the 4 decades holding true to the sound of each period. I still remain more of a fan of the earlier years but the entire evening was enjoyable and the band put in a great performance.